Worksheet for Fires in the Mirror
Note: Like other plays we have dealt with, the construction of this play is unique and often challenging to readers. It generally works well on the stage but not so well in the study. So, the questions posed about the construction of the play do not easily follow Ball’s method of analysis. So, I have taken the liberty to change up some of the questions.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
- This play consists of interviews of various members of the Black and Jewish communities during this time in which the two were rioting against each other after a Jewish man hit an African-American child while drunk driving. Each interview is named after the theme of itself and ties together to help the audience understand how different people were affected by the rioting. The stasis of this play occurs in Act 4, just before Rabbi Joseph Spielman gives his view of the evens that occurred in August of 1991 in Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The Rabbi stated that he believed the Black community just wanted to start riots and that they lied about what actually happened. On the other hand, Reverend Canon Sam states that the Lubavitcher Grand Rebbe's people were unnecessarily violent and that the death of the boy was not why they were upset. He maintains that the black community, wanting to start anti-Semitic riots, lied about those events.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the Mirror and how is it broken?
- The intrusion also occurs in Act 4 of the play when an accusation is made by Michael Miller that the Black Crown Heights community is anti-semitic. After this, the events are set in place to lead to the riots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
- This is the day that the playwright decided to compile the events of what happened before and during the Crown Heights Riots to share the stories of these people. Tension between the two communities occurred and escalated due to lack of information and the spreading of incorrect information about the event. The title comes into play because each person had a different tidbit of information than the other and a different opinion on what was happening, as if each person was looking into a mirror.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- The main question throughout the play is what a mirror has to do with the play. Alternatively, another question could be whether or not peace will become present again between the Black and Jewish communities.
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
- The African-American community wants revenge and justice for the young boy and others who have been injured and killed, specifically targeting the Jewish community because they were an easy target at the time (me v. other individuals). On the other side, the Jewish community wants justice for Yankel Rosenbaum's death and to retaliate the arguments from the Black community (also me v. other individuals). Within this story, it is the two communities against everyone else in society as well, as the media and popular figures put statements out regarding the events (me v. society).
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
- One of the most theatrical moments that I remember reading was when Letty Pogrebin read her uncle's story of survival when he had to prove that he was not a part of the Jewish community during the Holocaust by killing everyone he knew in gas chambers .
Note: Like other plays we have dealt with, the construction of this play is unique and often challenging to readers. It generally works well on the stage but not so well in the study. So, the questions posed about the construction of the play do not easily follow Ball’s method of analysis. So, I have taken the liberty to change up some of the questions.
1. You may identify the stasis in the play but it isn’t necessarily at the beginning of the play. Where is it and who does it involve? NOTE: Do not assume that the stasis of the play is the same as the stasis of the video version that you are required to see. Only discuss the play in this and answers to the following questions.
- This play consists of interviews of various members of the Black and Jewish communities during this time in which the two were rioting against each other after a Jewish man hit an African-American child while drunk driving. Each interview is named after the theme of itself and ties together to help the audience understand how different people were affected by the rioting. The stasis of this play occurs in Act 4, just before Rabbi Joseph Spielman gives his view of the evens that occurred in August of 1991 in Crown Heights, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. The Rabbi stated that he believed the Black community just wanted to start riots and that they lied about what actually happened. On the other hand, Reverend Canon Sam states that the Lubavitcher Grand Rebbe's people were unnecessarily violent and that the death of the boy was not why they were upset. He maintains that the black community, wanting to start anti-Semitic riots, lied about those events.
2. Ball points out that the intrusion sometimes occurs late in the dramatic action. What is the intrusion that breaks the stasis in Fires in the Mirror and how is it broken?
- The intrusion also occurs in Act 4 of the play when an accusation is made by Michael Miller that the Black Crown Heights community is anti-semitic. After this, the events are set in place to lead to the riots.
3. Why do the events of the play take place at this particular time and place? In other words, what is the unique factor that is out of the ordinary that causes a turn of events to take place? Hint: the unique factor may have something to do with you? How does the title figure in your answer?
- This is the day that the playwright decided to compile the events of what happened before and during the Crown Heights Riots to share the stories of these people. Tension between the two communities occurred and escalated due to lack of information and the spreading of incorrect information about the event. The title comes into play because each person had a different tidbit of information than the other and a different opinion on what was happening, as if each person was looking into a mirror.
4. State the dramatic questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
- The main question throughout the play is what a mirror has to do with the play. Alternatively, another question could be whether or not peace will become present again between the Black and Jewish communities.
5. Use the narrator of the work to answer the questions concerning character. Ball says, a character is revealed by what he/she does, ie. The dramatic actions that are taken. Examine what these particular characters wants. The wants of a character often encounter obstacles that get in the way of achieving those wants. Ball says there are 4 kinds of obstacles that frustrate the wants of a character. They are: a. Me against myself, b. Me against another individual, c. Me against society (that is law, social norms, etc.) and, d. Me against fate, the universe, natural forces, God or the gods. In answering these questions be sure to point to the particular obstacles that demonstrate these obstacles facing the narrator.
- The African-American community wants revenge and justice for the young boy and others who have been injured and killed, specifically targeting the Jewish community because they were an easy target at the time (me v. other individuals). On the other side, the Jewish community wants justice for Yankel Rosenbaum's death and to retaliate the arguments from the Black community (also me v. other individuals). Within this story, it is the two communities against everyone else in society as well, as the media and popular figures put statements out regarding the events (me v. society).
6. The most important information in most plays takes place during theatrical moments. Identify the most theatrical moments in Fires in the Mirror.
- One of the most theatrical moments that I remember reading was when Letty Pogrebin read her uncle's story of survival when he had to prove that he was not a part of the Jewish community during the Holocaust by killing everyone he knew in gas chambers .